




<@lotie JHobern language Series 


GAMES IN 

MODERN LANGUAGES 

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BY 

R. KURLANZIK 

Instructor of French, Crocker Junior High School 
San Francisco, California 



NEW YORK 

GLOBE BOOK COMPANY 



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Copyright 1922, by 
GLOBE BOOK COMPANY 


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Games 

IN 

Modern Languages 

Inject the play spirit into the learning 
process. The use of the following 
GAMES will help you achieve that end. 

Facilitate your burdens and put life into 
the process. 

JEU DES HEURES 
JUEGO DE LAS HORAS 
NUMBER GAME 

These are now ready. 

Others In Preparation 

GLOBE BOOK CO. 

175 FIFTH AVENUE 


NEW YORK 





GAMES FOR 
CLUBS AND CLASSES 

A First Aid for Teachers of 
Modern Languages. 


Direct Teaching without the 
Use of English. 


Makes Learning a Pleasure. 




CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Comments.7 

Foreword.. . 9 

I. The Number Game.11 

II. Pictures. 13 

III. Reading.16 

IV. A Test. 16 

V. Word Game . 18 

VI. Jeu des Heures —Clock Game ... 21 

VII. Question and Answer Game.23 

VIII. Proverb Game. 25 


5 


















COMMENTS 


“A crying need for our Spanish Clubs is a variety 
of card games. It is hoped that some publishing house 
may before long issue a few Spanish card games.”— 
Lawrence A. Wilkins, Director of Modern Languages 
in High Schools, New York City. 

“Miss R. Kurlanzik has invented several games in 
French and Spanish to be used in the teaching of these 
languages and in foreign language clubs. These games 
are ingenious and useful as well as very interesting.” 
—Bulletin of High Points, New York City High 
Schools . 

“They ‘fill a long felt want.’ I expect to mention 
your games in the revised edition of my methods book.” 
— L. A. Wilkins. 

“Votre methode doit donner d’excellents resultats.” 
— Prof. Gilbert Chinard, University of California. 

Prof. Chinard had previously expressed himself as op¬ 
posed to the Direct Method in this country. 

“It seems certain that the learning (of a foreign 
language) should be of the play or interest-driven type.” 
—Franklin Bobbitt, The Curriculum. 

“It is the only way to teach a language.”— Member 
Board of Education, San Francisco. 

7 



“Congratulate you on preparing such substantial 
means for fun and work .”—Head of Foreign Lan¬ 
guages, Stadium High School, Tacoma, Wash . 

“Unless repetition and reiteration can be robbed of 
their monotony, they lose by far the greater part of their 
efficiency .”—William Chandler Bagley. 

“While attending some of the meetings of the Cali¬ 
fornia Teachers’ Association, I had the pleasure of 
hearing your most interesting talk at the Romanic 
Language Association meeting and I came back to the 
school and told the other teachers in the department 
about your work and they were very much interested, 
especially in the games that you told us about, and I 
am writing to you asking if you would be kind enough 
to write out for us the rules for those games, the ones 
with the numbers and the clock game especially. It 
is always so good for us to hear what some of the 
others are doing .”—Head of Romanic Language De¬ 
partment, Santa Rosa High School . 

“Use the ‘play spirit’ so far as is possible—after that 
gain the rest by any means whatsoever .”—How to 
Teach—Strayer and Norsworthy . 

“On n’apprend qu’en s’amusant. L’art d’enseigner 
n’est que l’art d’eveiller la curiosite des jeunes ames 
pour la satisfaire ensuite, et la curiosite n’est vive et 
saine que dans les esprits heureux. Les connaissances 
qu’on entonne de force dans les intelligences les bou- 
chent et les etouffent. Pour digerer le savoir, il faut 
l’avoir a vale avec appetit .”—Anatole France . 

8 


GAMES FOR THE FRENCH CLASS 
FOREWORD 


There are only three things necessary for education: 
books, teacher and inclination, and, the greatest of these 
is inclination. So I have worked out for classes in 
French a series of games which in themselves might 
constitute a first course in the language or they may 
be used as supplementary to a text book. Some teach¬ 
ers say, “Such devices are needed for children but not 
for older students.” Perhaps the same people say, 
when seeing the results of these devices, “Children learn 
languages so easily.” The commentary here would 
be that either they do well because of the method em¬ 
ployed or that better methods are required for those 
who learn less easily. Besides, it was necessity that 
drove me to invention. 

These games do not call for a romp in the class 
room, nor are they our own games adapted to French, 
where of course the thinking would still be in English. 
Every moment spent in the game must make for ad¬ 
vance in the language rather than for sharpening of 
wits. Each game is a carefully worked out exercise, 
emphasizing something definite to be learned, with only 
enough of the play element to arouse interest. 

Is it the Direct Method? In “Le Bourgeois Gentil - 
homme” M. Jourdain is surprised to learn that there 
are two modes of expression and that he has been talk- 
9 


ing prose all his life. What else could he have done? 
Much has been said about the advantages of the newer 
methods. Of what use would it be to tell a man who 
had fallen into a well how fine it was above or that the 
well was not properly constructed? He would want 
a rope. 

Here is a little help in response to a question re¬ 
cently asked—What do you do the first day? It may 
be answered in the words of one beginner—“Our first 
day in the French class we started right away to learn. 
That day we learned the numbers up to twenty and 
when we returned to our room we had smiles on our 
faces for we thought it was great to learn a different 
language.” Another reported, “She talked nothing 
but French.” With the number lesson nothing more 
was necessary except Bon jour, asseyez-vous, levez- 
vous, adieu! 


10 


THE NUMBER GAME* 
(126 Cards) 


(A) —The numbers are learned at sight from small 
cards shown by the teacher who gives the French 
word, pupils repeating. No English is required be¬ 
cause explanation is unnecessary. The emphasis is on 
pronunciation, and phonetic drill is given without the 
use of symbols. The numbers may be learned most 
easily in this order: 6, 10, 8, 18, 7, 17, 13, 16, 20, 5, 15, 

4, 14 ,3, 11, 12, 2, 9, 19, 1, 22 . 29, 21. 

These cards are good for Line Drill. Pupils stand up in 
a line, the teacher holds up a card and the first pupil 
calls the number. A second card is held up for the next 
pupil and so on. Should any fail to give the number 
correctly the one who succeeds passes ahead of those 
who failed. It is easy to watch the lips of each pupil. 
Unless the position is satisfactory the word is considered 
mispronounced and is passed on to the next pupil. 
There is an incentive for effort, and carefulness 
now will lessen correction when reading is begun. At 
the beginning of the lesson pupils take the places they 
had at the end of the previous one. These places indi¬ 
cate a mark for proficiency as well as any written test. 

(B) —Give the large cards to the pupils. The six 

* Has been published for French and Spanish. 

11 




cards of each color contain all the numbers. If only 
twelve or fewer play, each may receive two or more 
cards, which should be of the same color. The teacher 
calls a number from the small cards thus, “Qui a neufV ’ 
The first one who finds 9 on his card says, “Tax neuf ’ 
and puts 9 on the blackboard, scoring one point. 
Teach 30 to 69 and play again. 

(C) —With books open, since this, as all the other 
games, is planned for teaching, not testing, (B) may 
be varied thus: When one pupil has put the number 
on the blackboard, another who has the same number 
writes the word, as: 12, douze. Teach 70 to 100 and 
play again. Larger numbers as 560 and 1921 may be 
called to be given by those holding final numbers. 

(D) —The teacher calls, “Qui a le quatriemeV’ and 
two pupils write 4 me quatrieme , or “Qui a cinq-neu- 
viemesV ’ and those who have the numerator on their card 
write 5/9, cinq-neuviemes. 

The work is not continuous. (A) and (B) are taken 
in the first term; (C) and (D) as the subjects come up 
in the book. 


12 


II 

PICTURES 


During the lesson on numbers, a habit has been 
formed of word production at the sight of the symbol. 
Now flash cards of objects may be used without the 
pupil being impelled to add the English word. From 
lesson to lesson new cards are introduced. Very little 
time is needed for a review or a vocabulary test. The 
French comes directly at the sight of the object, not via 
the English. There is a sticking quality to what has 
been learned and it comes out quickly when needed. 

We use about 200 cards representing the vocabulary 
of the book and such everyday objects as food, clothing, 
furniture, colors and French money. These are very 
quickly learned in Line Drill. Nothing is said about 
gender. At first the masculine nouns are learned— 
le soldat; le soulier; un gateau; un arbre . Then le p&re; 
la mbre; le gar port; la file ; Venfant; la nourrice —make 
clear the use of articles and leads to the statement that 
la is also used before some nouns which do not name 
persons. 

When the picture shows more than one object, les or 
des are used. When the demonstrative adjectives are 
to be learned, they are used instead of the articles. 
These pictures may also be grouped phonetically or to 
illustrate some point in grammar. The guessing games 
called for in so many books are most advantageously 
13 


played with these cards. Select cards for words occur¬ 
ring in a new lesson. A few minutes with them will 
be excellent preparation for the reading. Suppose it 
is the lesson on French money. Have a guessing game, 
using the vocabulary of the book with questions as 
Est-ce que votre piece est en or?, Est-elle petite?, Est¬ 
elle grande comme un franc?, Vaut-elle plus de deux 
francs? No time is lost with guessing at random so 
that every minute of this work counts. 

Oral composition begins with repetition, after the 
teacher, of sentences about pictures as, Un cheval est 
grand. Un chat est petit. On mange le pain. On 
boit le the. Je dors dans un lit. Le bebe dort dans 
un berceau. Qui dort dans la classe? Next, original 
sentences are required and then written work. 

A boy who had studied French one year in the High 
School, was surprised to hear of a letter written in 
French. “Can you say, ‘We are at the beach. .The 
sun is shining,’ and such things?” It seemed to be a 
dead language for him. It was very much alive to this 
7th grade girl. Here is what she wrote after a few 
weeks study without a book. 

Le Coeur 

Voila le coeur! Mon coeur est tendre et rouge. Le 
cerf a un coeur. J’ai un coeur. Le gallon a un coeur. 
II est petit. Le coeur da ma mere est grand. Le coeur 
du mouton est rouge. Le lapin a un petit coeur. Le 
coeur n’est pas jaune ou bleu. Le soldat a un brave 
coeur. Le coeur da ma grand’mere est bon. On mange 
le coeur du mouton. Le coeur du chien est brave. II 

14 


est rouge et n’est pas grand. Le coeur de Marguerite 
est triste. Le coeur du chou est blanc. Voila le coeur 
d’un chat! Le coeur de mon chat est gentil. Le 
regiment marche au pas. Le coeur du regiment bat 
fierement. Le coeur de mon pere est fache. Le coeur 
de pere Noel est grand. 

The first written lesson is copying words from the 
board, looking them up in the vocabulary and writing 
le or la before each. Those who finish before the 
rest draw pictures to show the meanings of words. 
Some interesting ideas come out. Two boys shaking 
hands showed Bonjour! 6 A.M. — 6 A.M. showing 
extent of “day.” The necessity for this fundamental 
and seemingly elementary work is apparent when stu¬ 
dents in Teachers’ Courses are found deficient in vocab¬ 
ulary. 


15 


Ill 

READING 


The vowel sounds are taught with phonetic cards and 
Line Drill as were the numbers. Before taking up any 
reading lesson, review the vocabulary with pictures. 
Write on the board all the new words in syllables. 
Hold up phonetic cards one by one. Let the pupils in 
the Line Drill pronounce syllables containing sounds 
and underline them. This exercise makes certain to 
pupils that pronunciation is not a matter of guess or 
memory. When all syllables have been marked and 
exceptions noted, begin the reading. All these exer¬ 
cises demand and receive a kind of attention which 
alone would make for success in any subject. And it 
is continued in all the other games. 


IV 

A TEST 

Recently a test was given to 6th grade pupils just 
before they were to decide about electing French in the 
7th grade. It was for the purpose of advising the best 
pupils to choose the language instead of the easier al¬ 
ternative. Selecting twenty pictures, I gave the words 
with le or la before each. The pupils, furnished with 
readers, were to look for the spelling and write the 
16 


words. The test was successful in every way. These 
were the words: la corde, la famille, la ferme, la file, 
le garf on, le lait, le legume, la maison, midi, le monde, 
la montagne, le pain, la plume, la route, le sac, la table, 
la tete, la vache, le verre, la veste. Instead of pictures, 
objects may be shown as la boite 9 le cahier, le canif, la 
craze, le crayon, le livre, le papier, la regie, le sac, le 
tableau . Be sure that the words selected appear in 
the vocabulary of the book. Three credits were given 
for each, one taken off for a mistake in spelling or an 
omission of accent. 


17 


V 

WORD GAME 


No prepared material is required. The points em¬ 
phasized are vocabulary and pronunciation. Choose 
aiiy word to begin with. Then other words are to be 
found whose initial letters spell the first word. The 
final letter of the last word begins a new group. Ar¬ 
ticles are used with nouns. 


le sommeil 
F Oreille 
la main 
?/ianger 
F eau 
ici 
Zuit 


tenir 
e\\e 
le ne z 
Ztalien 
regard er 


respire 

ecrit etes 

sage la Zete 

plus P eleve 

intelligent six 

retourner 
F ecole 


Looking before leaping would have avoided the x. 
Since no word was found for it, the game ended for 
the day. 

A word is given orally, then written on the board. If 
mispronounced or mispelled, it is not accepted. The 
meaning and the use of the word should be clear. The 
choice of words may be limited to the lesson of the day 
when possible. This game is particularly adaptable for 
review, especially at the end of the term, but the proper 
time for its introduction is just before verbs are to be 
18 


studied. Suppose the supply of words in I or U has 
given out. Teach the present indicative of inviter or 
user, thus adding five words for those letters. The 
enemy verb becomes a friend in need. 

This game may be limited to verbs and to certain 
tenses. Here is one for the Imparfait, The infinitive 
must always be given first, then the present participle. 
All forms of the tense must be used before another verb 


taken for the same letter. 



engager 

restant 

nous 

tournions 

nommer 

j ’ engageais 


obeir 

garder 

tauter 


user 

admirer 

Mourner 

il 

restait 

gardant 

admirant 

il 

ftommait 

tfngageant 

7tommant 


tnviter 

rester 

fournant 


obeissant 


je fiommais 
sautant 


After this introduction to verbs comes another game 
played with cards. The conversation for it is: 

Donnez l’imparfait du verbe rendre, 

Je ne l’ai pas. 

Qu’est-ce que je finis nous finissons (finissant) 
tu S* vous ******ez 

il t ils ******ent 

C’est l’indicatif present du verbe finir, 

Qu’est-ce que ay ant? 

Vous avez le participe present du verbe avoir , n’est-ce 
pas? 

Je l’ai. C’est ay ant. 

Note: The-mean the same number of letters taken from the first 

person; the ***** mean letters from the present participle. 

19 


When the type verbs on the cards have been learned, 
others are substituted for them. But the verbs are 
learned from the principal parts and not by conjuga¬ 
tions. 


20 


VI 


JEU DES HEURES—CLOCK GAME* 
(60 cards) 

If there are more than twenty in the class, it is best 
to make two divisions unless more time is allowed than 
the usual recitation period. Give two or more cards to 
each player, putting the remainder if any— le talon — 
on the table, face down, to be taken one at a time by 
players who have no more cards. Each player calls 
for a card corresponding to the one he holds, with the 
following conversation: 

Marie —Est-il deux heures, Georges? (1) 

Georges —Non, mademoiselle, il n’est pas deux 
heures. (2) 

Claire —II est une heure et demie, Robert? 

Robert —Non, mademoiselle, il n’est pas— (3) 

Claire —Donnez-moi une carte. (4) 

Robert —Voici une carte. 

Claire —Merci, monsieur. 

Albert —Est-ce qu’il est midi, Jeanne? 

Jeanne —Oui, monsieur, il est midi. (5) 

Albert —Donnez-moi votre carte, s’il vous plait. 

Jeanne —Voici ma carte. 

Albert —Merci bien. 

Louise —J’ai les deux qartes. Il est sept heures. 

Anne —Il est deux heures, n’est-ce pas, Marie? (6) 

* Has been published in French and Spanish. 

21 


Marie —Oui, mademoiselle, il est deux heures. 

Anne —Donnez-moi votre carte, etc. 

Notes 

1— Marie has either the card showing 2 o’clock or the 
corresponding one, torn from it, reading “II est 
deux heures.” 

2— Georges has not the corresponding card. 

3— Robert has forgotten the hour asked for, therefore 

4— Claire claims forfeit. 

5— Jeanne has the corresponding card. 

6— Marie has already read that card. 

With younger pupils, give only one card to each, 
selecting for the first playing the cards with even hours, 
then those with half hours, and so on. 

If these directions do not seem clear to the teacher, 
play the game once with some of your best pupils. Let 
eight of them take the parts of Marie, Georges, etc., 
giving to each the required cards. When the game 
is finished, each player receives as many points as he 
has cards. Should the first playing seem slow, it would 
show how much this exercise is needed. When it is 
played easily it is time for a new game, although pupils 
always like best to play the ones they know well. Which 
lessons in the book are interesting when repeated? Yet 
“la repetition est Vame de V enseignement” 


22 


QUESTION AND ANSWER GAME 

VII 

The rules for playing are the same as for the Clock 
Game (Jeu Des Heures) . Pupils should now be fa¬ 
miliar with them so that no time is taken for anything 
but the French. The material consists of cards with 
questions and answers. The conversation may be: 

Blanche —“Comment monte-t-on en haut?” Avez- 
vous la reponse, Albert? 

Albert —Non, mademoiselle, je n’ai pas la reponse. 

Lucie —“Ou mange-t-on?” Avez-vous la reponse, 
Jacques? 

Jacques —Oui, mademoiselle, j’ai la reponse. “On 
mange dans la salle a manger.” 

Lucie —Donnez-moi la reponse. 

Jacques —La voici. 

Henri —“11 a 29 jours tous les quatre ans.” Avez- 
vous la question, Jeanne? 

Jeanne —Oui, monsieur, j’ai la question. 

Henri —Lisez-la, s’il vous plait. 

Jeanne —“Quand le mois de fevrier a-t-il 29 jours?” 

Henri —Donnez-moi la question, je vous prie. 

Jeanne —La voila. 

Henri—Je vous remercie. 

Jeanne —11 n’y a pas de quoi. 

Charles —“On monte en haut par l’escalier.” Vous 
avez la reponse, n’est-ce pas, Blanche? 

23 


Blanche —Non, monsieur, je le regrette beaucoup mais 
je n’ai pas la reponse. J’ai la question. Donnez-moi 
s’il vous plait la reponse. 

Charles —Avec plaisir. 

Blanche —Merci bien. Etc. 


24 


VIII 

PROVERB GAME 


This game is played like the Question and Answer 
Game. The material consists of cards with proverbs 
cut in two. The conversation is: 

Alice —“Apres la pluie.” Avez-vous l’autre carte, 
Jean? 

Jean —Non, mademoiselle, je n’ai pas l’autre carte. 

Edmond —J’ai les deux cartes. “Mieux veut tard 
que jamais.” 

Victor —“Le beau temps.” Vous avez l’autre carte, 
n’est-ce pas, Alice? 

Alice —Oui, monsieur, j’ai l’autre carte. 

Victor —Lisez-la, s’il vous plait. 

Alice —“Apres la pluie.” 

Victor —Donnez-moi votre carte. 

Alice —Avec plaisir. 

Victor —“Apres la pluie le beau temps.” 

Much pleasure is found in the little expressions of 
politeness. When a new one is found in the book, it is 
adopted into the game. After many have been learned, 
individuals use their favorites and there is less unifor¬ 
mity in the conversation. 

In the 7th grade, in answer to fc Quest-ce quun 
arbreV s , a boy wrote, (f Uarbre est dam le jardin. II 
est bien haut. II est vert et brun. Uarbre est petit 
aussi. Quand Varbre est jeune il est petit. II faut 
plier Varbre pendant quit est jeune.” 

25 


The last sentence stands out from the rest. It had 
never been written before, just learned from the game. 
For effective memorizing, these games are better than 
plays in which only a few can take part and so much 
time is needed for expression, stage setting and other 
things which do not advance the French itself. 

Other Question and Answer Games deal with Geog¬ 
raphy, History, Arithmetic, Nature Study and French 
Grammar. If used in beginners’ classes, much teach¬ 
ing of pronunciation and conversation is required. 
That is why they could be used without a book. In 
advanced classes or clubs, they serve as material for 
conversation. They are especially good for teachers 
who are new to the work or do not use the language 
easily, while teachers with more experience use them to 
get variety in their work. Without some systematic 
plan, a teacher may keep a class going by doing most 
of the talking or acting as a dictionary, often drifting 
from the subject when led away by some chance ques¬ 
tion. No book can supply the demand for the spoken 
language. Even when the teacher is able to supply 
a rapid fire of questions more than half of the talking 
is done by him. 

With the card games, the pupils have material to 
work with, keep busy and learning and, once started, 
do all the talking. For conversation in French has 
been gradually developed from merely “oui” and “non” 
until there is only an occasional appeal to the teacher 
for some expression in an emergency. 

“As the average child is expected to spend from 10 
to 15 years in imbibing knowledge from blackboards 
and textbooks, anything that tends to turn work into 
play and at the same time does not lessen results is a 
blessing indeed.” 26 


Announcements 


27 


FLASH CARDS 

for 

French Pronunciation 


A set of sixty cards for the teaching of 
French pronunciation. These are de¬ 
signed to teach students phonetics 
through drill in French sounds, words 
and phrases. Recommended by Mr. 
L. A. Wilkins for use in New York 
High Schools. 

Sample cards will be sent upon request 

GLOBE BOOK CO. 

175 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 






Modern Language Drill Pads 

Relieve the teacher’s burdens and make 
drill effective and interesting. 

Drill does not have to be drudgery. 

Drill may be made systematic, thorough 
and practical by the use of 

Mankiewicz and Elmer 

French Verb Drill Sheets—Conjugation 
French Verb Drill Sheets—Synopsis 

“Your drill sheets are the best 
pedagogical device I have seen 
for the purpose of drill. These 
should be in the hands of every 
pupil studying French or Span¬ 
ish in either Junior or Senior 
High Schools.” 

a Supervisor of Modern Languages , 
Junior High Schools, 
New York City . 

We shall be glad to send you a sample pad for 
trial in your classes. 

GLOBE BOOK CO. 

175 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 





EXERCISE BOOK 
IN SPANISH 

By LAWRENCE A. WILKINS and HYMEN ALPERN 


A book that furnishes the kind of exercise 
material that is unobtainable anywhere 
else. 

A book that provides drill in the Subjunc¬ 
tive, Idioms, Pronouns and Irregular 
Verbs, the weakest spots in Spanish 
Grammar. 

A book in which the exercise material 
is vivid, interesting and free from 
monotony. 


GLOBE BOOK CO. 

175 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 





Outline o! Spanish Grammar 

By HYMEN ALPERN, M. A. 

Co-Author Exercise Book in Spanish 


SALIENT FEATURES: 

(1) Organization of the essential facts of 
Spanish grammar in logical groups. 

(2) Simplicity of Terminology. The 
author has carefully avoided a pre¬ 
ponderance of theory and unneces¬ 
sary explanatory material. 

(3) Abundant illustrative material se¬ 
lected from recent examination 
papers. 

As a Text Booh 

For students taking advanced Spanish. 

As a Review Booh 

For students taking elementary Spanish. 


GLOBE BOOK CO. 

175 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 





LATIN 

DRILL PADS 

make possible quick and thorough fixation 
of the most important, though most 
difficult, grammatical forms 

The irregular verb, in particular, 
must be drilled and drilled hard before it 
can be mastered by the pupils. 

Why not reduce your own labors? 

Why not insure a thorough mastery of the 
verb? 

We shall be glad to send you a sample pad for 
trial in your classes. 


GLOBE BOOK CO. 

175 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 














